Can growth hormone really make people "rejuvenate"?
In 1990, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article that caused the medical community to shake. The study of this article is that after applying recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) to 12 men over the age of 60, they found that their body weight decreased, muscle weight increased, skin elasticity increased, and it looked healthier. Decreased blood lipids may also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, hair grows faster and the mood improves. The authors did not propose recombinant human growth hormone as a drug for anti-aging or anti-aging, but said that these changes are equivalent to returning these elderly people to the "pregnant" period 10 to 20 years ago.
This article triggered some similar studies in the future, but also got positive results, but they are all small samples (up to dozens of cases), and the medication time is not long. However, this research has also attracted the favor of the business community. It has launched a number of “anti-aging health care products” (known as nutritional supplements) made up of vitamins and herbs. The advertisements all claim to promote growth hormone secretion, thus delaying. senescence. These health products have caused confusion in the public perception.
In 2003, the New England Journal of Medicine published two articles at the same time, one by the editor-in-chief of the current magazine and the other by the editor-in-chief of the magazine in 1990. They all clearly believe that there is insufficient evidence for recombinant human growth hormone as a drug to delay aging. The 1990 article and subsequent similar studies were small samples, were not used for a long time, and did not emphasize enough adverse reactions. High-dose, long-term use of recombinant human growth hormone, high blood pressure, joint pain, limb edema, carpal tunnel syndrome, diabetes and male breast development and other adverse reactions. Even in children with dwarfism, France found a slight increase in total child mortality, so the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added a safety warning to the drug label. Later, the study also found that continued use of drugs that promote growth hormone secretion, even pure recombinant human growth hormone, whether oral or intramuscular injection, will resist after a few months (that is, some of the previous good effects gradually disappeared) . Because some drugs that secrete growth hormone can also promote the secretion of "adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)", increase the secretion of cortisol from the adrenal gland, thereby blocking the role of growth hormone. The Merck Pharmaceuticals of the United States originally studied an oral growth hormone secreting agent (MK-677) and gave up for the above reasons.
Growth hormone, as its name suggests, is a hormone that promotes growth. It is secreted by the pituitary gland of the human body, and each of us relies on it to grow from a newborn baby to an adult.
American Chinese, the famous brain-dipping biochemical chemist Li Zhuoyu (1913-1987), has long been engaged in the study of human growth hormone, and is known as the "father of pituitary hormones." Professor Li Zhuoyu spent 32 years discovering, extracting, purifying, identifying, measuring amino acid sequences, and elucidating chemical structures until 1970, when artificial growth hormone was finally synthesized. This protein of 256 amino acids was the largest protein molecule synthesized at that time.
After Professor Li Zhuojun discovered growth hormone, some people tried to use it to treat children with dwarfism caused by lack of growth hormone, but most of them did not succeed because of the different growth hormones of various animals. Only one physician has obtained a clinical effect from monkey growth hormone extracted from a monkey pituitary. In the United States in 1960, a special organization was established to collect the pituitary gland obtained from the national autopsy and extract human growth hormone (hGH) for the treatment of pituitary dwarfism in children. Other developed countries have also learned this method, treating more than 27,000 cases worldwide. In 1985, some of these children developed the death of Ke-Ya's disease, which is known as "mad cow disease" today. The study found that these patients used human growth hormone extracted from the body 10 to 15 years ago, so the relevant departments immediately banned. Because Professor Li Zhuoyu has synthesized human growth hormone (hGH), which has prompted manufacturers to apply recombinant DNA biotechnology, it can be mass-produced and widely used in clinical practice until today.
Physiological function of growth hormone
Growth hormone (also known as voxel in foreign countries) is secreted from the pituitary gland, but it also has a "axis". Unlike gonads and thyroid glands, it does not have a target gland, but acts directly on systemic organs and tissues. Grow and regenerate cells. Growth hormone has a characteristic that it enters the liver to produce "insulin-like growth factor-1" (IGF-1), which also plays a role in promoting growth. The pituitary gland is controlled by the hypothalamus, and the hypothalamus secretes "growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH)" and "somatostatin". The former promotes and the latter inhibits the secretion of growth hormone. Both are balanced by various external factors (such as sleep, exercise, stress, etc.), and the growth hormone is secreted or not secreted (inhibited).
The secretion of growth hormone is impulsive, that is, bursts of time. The peak appeared in the first deep sleep about 1 hour after falling asleep, and the EEG showed slow waves, and there were lower peaks in the third and fourth deep sleeps. It is secreted very little during the day, and it is secreted for a while after 3 to 5 hours. Therefore, those children who are excited during the day and who sleep on the bed at night grow taller, while children who cannot sleep on weekdays are not tall.
The amount of growth hormone secretion in a person's life is gradually reduced. Adolescents secrete an average of 700 micrograms a day, and adults receive 400 micrograms. After entering middle age, it will decrease by about 14% every 10 years, the fastest decline to 40 to 45 years old, and a steady decline after 45 years old. When it reaches old age, it will secrete 40 micrograms per day.
In the elderly, because the osteoporosis of the spine is compressed, people will be "longer and shorter." What is the effect of this 40 micrograms of growth hormone? Honestly, it is not clear. Because the full role of growth hormone is still not fully understood.
With the increase of age, from the age of 17, cell receptors are gradually insensitive to peptide hormones, such as insulin, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1 and leptin. Therefore, the blood levels of insulin in the elderly are compensatory and are prone to type 2 diabetes. Increased insulin has a negative feedback effect on the release of growth hormone, which is detrimental to growth hormone secretion. In addition, increased body fat will also reduce growth hormone secretion, and will reduce its effects.
In summary, growth hormone is also an anabolic hormone that promotes protein synthesis and plays an important role in the growth of children and adolescents. It has a synergistic effect with testosterone. It is necessary to know that women also produce a small amount of testosterone, and the synergy of insulin-like growth factor-1 is required for sex hormones to function. However, artificial addition of growth hormone to delay aging has not been confirmed yet.
In a word, there is no magic bullet for maintaining a healthy state of mind. Or you should maintain a good lifestyle, such as adequate sleep, proper exercise, balanced diet to reduce fat intake, and maintain a peace of mind.
Is growth hormone related to cancer?
Some people worry that excessive growth hormone will also promote the growth of cancer? From the current data, it is unlikely. For example, patients with acromegaly caused by pituitary adenoma do not increase the cancer rate; cancer patients with surgery or radiotherapy to destroy the pituitary, supplemented with recombinant human growth hormone replacement therapy, the cancer rate does not increase; children pituitary dwarfism Treatment with recombinant human growth hormone did not increase the chance of cancer; in the above study, the rate of cancer in elderly people with recombinant human growth hormone was not increased. However, the growth of organ cancer associated with sex hormones (such as prostate cancer, breast cancer) is related to insulin-like growth factor-1 levels.
